Exodus 10:7-11

"And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? let the men go, that they serve Jehovah their God; knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve Jehovah your God,' but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old' with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto Jehovah. And he said unto them, So be Jehovah with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it, for evil is before you. Not so; go now, ye that are men, and serve Jehovah; for that is what ye desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence."

"How long shall this man be a snare to us ...?" "This man" is a reference to Moses, and this intercession of Pharaoh's servants was to change the monarch's mind and to let the people go is a breakthrough, and shows that a great many people in Egypt were opposed to the Pharaoh's further refusal of God's demand through Moses that he "let my people go." The idea that only the men would be released was Pharaoh's, not that of the servants who pleaded for him to "let the men go." Keil assures us that they meant, "Let the people go."[12]

"Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed ...?" We can only marvel that Pharaoh was either ignorant of the ruin of his nation, or insensible to it.

"Who are they that shall go ...?" Gordon commented on Moses' full and dramatic answer thus:

Moses' words ring with Churchillian defiance. He knows that the king presents no threat, and that the denouement cannot be long delayed.[13]

Moses' triumphant declaration that the whole nation, young, old, men, women, flocks, herds, cattle, everything would leave Egypt, infuriated Pharaoh. He said, "So be Jehovah with you ..." His words in our version are a little ambiguous; but several writers have given these insights into what he meant: "May the Lord be with you if I ever let you go."[14] "Pharaoh hoped that the divine protection on the journey would be as nonexistent as his permit to go."[15] Rawlinson has this:

"Pharaoh's reply is full of scorn and anger, as if he would say, `When was ever so extravagant and outrageous a demand made? How can it be supposed that I would listen to it? So may Jehovah help you, as I will help you in this.'"[16]

"Look to it, for evil is before you ..." This means, "Watch out, for you are contemplating evil." Cook gave the meaning as, "Your intentions are evil," adding that, "Great as the possible infliction might be, Pharaoh held it to be a less evil than the loss of so large a population."[17] Moses' flat and dogmatic declaration that ALL Israel, with all their property would leave completely frustrated Pharaoh's intention of retaining the women and children as a pledge that his nation of slaves would all return to their labors. Of course, Pharaoh knew that he would not consent for the people to go, and he did not believe that Jehovah could deliver them. As Fields said, "This kind of a put-down is the kind that cruel people enjoy.[18]

"Go now, ye that are men, and serve Jehovah ..." This is another of the great compromises proposed by Pharaoh. See under Exodus 8:28 for a discussion of all of these. One of the great preachers of another era delivered a great sermon in Philadelphia, entitled, "Ye that are men now serve Him!" (Taking the text out of context); but that preacher during that meeting visited a newly-invented threshing machine, lost his arm in the cylinder, and died at the scene. His last words were, "Ye that are men now serve Him! Stand up! Stand up for Jesus!" The well known hymn "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" has these lines recalling the event:

"Stand up, Stand up for Jesus; Stand in his strength alone; The arm of flesh will fail you; Ye dare not trust your own. Ye that are men now serve Him; Against unnumbered foes; Let courage rise with danger; And strength to strength oppose."